Just like the other night, Sunny sat by the window all through the night. She didn't even wink. As the grandfather clock down in the hall chimed six times, she rose from her seat and went into her bathroom. Her steps were rather stiff, yet it was still graceful somehow.

 

She stepped out of her white linen nightgown, put dirty clothes in laundry basket and took the washcloth on the rack beside the glass door separating the shower area. She her left instead and sat on the vintage white tub with gold tap on the side. She sat down carefully on the rim of the tub and pressed in the temperature she wanted into the pad before running the water.

 

It took only a moment to let the tub a quarter full. She didn't need that much of water anyway, since she was just wiping her skin with wet cloth. The water temperature was just right, and she started wiping inch after inch of her skin carefully. She took her time, again, not that it was important for her anyway. Time held no meaning for her, just like the shell which was her body. However, as she still had her brain running for logic and reasoning, she would rather keep herself clean and well presented.

 

Sunny walked out of the shower room and stared into the tall mirror in front of her. Aside from her hand, there was a black dead-looking spot on her shoulder. It was quite big that the rim of the spot could be seen from the front view. She shuddered. She hates the spot, and she hates the reason why she has that wrinkled, dead blackened cells on her skin. Shaking her head, trying to shoo the thought away, she quickly took her thick white bathrobe from which was folded neatly on her bathroom counter and slipped into it.

 

When she came out of the bathroom, an old wise-looking woman was already in her room, making her bed.

 

"Mrs. Na," Sunny greeted.

 

"Miss Sunny," the latter greeted back.

 

"Mrs. Na, how many time should I tell you that you don't have to make my bed. I can do it myself," whined Sunny lightly.

 

The woman came closer to pat the girl's cheek. "It's okay, Dear. I love to do it for you anyway."

 

Sunny smiled at the old lady's warmth, yet her smiling muscles were kind of stiff since she rarely did so. Upon which, Mrs. Na giggled.

 

"That's why you should practice smiling more," said Mrs. Na with a smile on her chubby cheeks. She turned the tiny body of her master's daughter to face the body-length mirror on the left side of the room. "You should see it by yourself how weird you look smiling like that."

 

"Don't tease me, Mrs. Na," Sunny pouted.

 

"Don't get too sensitive, Dear," reminded the chubby woman. "You don't look attractive that way."

 

"Why would I want to look attractive. It's not like I'm meeting anybody, old or new."

 

"Who knows, Dear. Who knows," said Mrs. Na, patting her cold cheek with care once again. "Now, you should eat before you come down to see your father."

 

"You know how much I hate it. I don't want," refused Sunny.

 

"It's just meat, Honey. I switched it, although it perhaps won't do much to satiate your 'hunger'," Mrs. Na took Sunny's hand in her and guided her to the small round table in the middle of the room.

 

Sunny sighed, "But still it's raw."

 

"People also eat raw meat. We even have raw meat dish, just like people who are living in Finland have," Mrs. Na reasoned as she pushed Sunny's shoulders down, forcing her to sit on the chair. "Come on, don't think too much and just eat, okay."

 

Sunny did as told, making a face in the process when the soft yet cold texture of the raw meat cut in tiny cubes touched her tongue. The smell of blood sated her desire little and the taste of tender flesh sated her craving a bit. It was not much, but it was enough to have her sustained. Mrs. Na, on the other hand, waited for her to finish her food while brushing the younger girl's hair with big hairbrush.

 

"I'm gonna leave you for now. Or perhaps you still want my company?" asked Mrs. Na as she put down the brush on the table beside Sunny's right arm and start to give the younger girl's hair some volume with her stubby hands.

 

"If you still have other things to do, then it's okay. You may leave, Mrs. Na," answered Sunny.

 

"Well, your father asked me to prepare some things actually. So, I'll leave for now. But I'll come again after you are done with your father. You'll miss me if you don't see me for more than 2 hours, right?" Mrs. Na joked.

 

The rare crisp laughter filled the room, "I won't be that confident if I am in your shoes."

 

"Oh, I just know you do," Mrs. Na chirped while going towards the white-painted door. "I'll get going. See you later, Dear."

 

Sunny just nodded. She spooned another cube of flesh into and left the rest. She had eaten half of the portion anyway. After she chugged down several gulps of mineral water - just to wash the blood stench away, she went to her cupboard to change her bathrobe with a white dress.

 

There was something about the color white she loved, that was why her bedroom was painted white, her bed sheets were white, the furniture in her room were white, her wardrobe was all white now. For her, it was a symbol of purgation. Something that she had been looking for, for these past three years.

 

Finished changing, she took the elevator down under the level ground, where her father's laboratory was. Once the thick glass door of the elevator that stood in the middle of the facility dinged open, Sunny stepped out to find her father's back facing her. He was standing, concentrating on all sorts of machines and computer in front of him. The area where he was working was bright, while the other area was dimmed. Pale bluish light illuminated the darker area of the laboratory, creating looming shadow of big and small machines and utensils in that underground high-tech facility.

 

"Father," she faintly called out.

 

Although being faint, her father heard it well nonetheless. He quickly turned around to see his pretty young daughter standing in front of him. The ironically forever young daughter.

 

"Good morning, Sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" greeted the father.

 

Sunny grimaced,  "You know well I never once fall asleep for some time, Father."

 

"Aw, Father, there is no other meaning beside those words, okay. I'm just saying it in light tone. That's all," Sunny quickly added while rushing to her father to give him a big hug once she saw his face turned gloomy after what she said.

 

Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu returned his daughter's hug, tapping her back with gentlest care. She was his weakness. After his wife's death at the age of thirty-eight, leaving the three years old Sunny motherless, he took both the father and mother role to Sunny. With the help of Mrs. Na, who Sunny took as mother figure, he raised his daughter himself, without even considering to remarry. For him, his wife was the one and only, and he would with all his might protect and nurture the one precious treasure his wife left him, their daughter.

 

"I know, I know," Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu muttered. "I'm sorry."

 

"Duh..." Sunny looked up at her father, rolling her eyes. "I'm so tired to hear that words."

 

Her father smiled and pinched her nose with his forefinger and middle finger. "It's for making me worry, not for that old dull reason."

 

Sunny swatted his father's hand from her nose, crunched her face a bit, but quickly turned it to a smile. "Let's get started with whatever it is you had planned."

 

She released her hug and looked around his father's working. "What's for today?"

 

"I want to take another sample of your blood," he stated.

 

"Then?" Sunny prodded.

 

"Then I'll make another observation on your mutated gene," his father answered shortly while preparing the syringe and needle.

 

"Then?"

 

"Then I'll do a more extensive research to know how much protein the genes produces that contributes to the slowing down of your decompos...," His father halted, he lowered down his gaze. He had said the forbidden word. The word that he himself forbade saying, especially in front of his daughter.

 

"Father," Sunny started softly, her left hand reached up his upper left arm, giving it a little squeeze, "I can't say that I am already used to both the words and the state, but I'm accepting it for some time already. So should you."

 

The father looked up to see her daughter right in her eyes, the twinkling dark orbs that resembled his wife's. He was ready to open his mouth, but Sunny cut him first.

 

"I know what you want to say. So stop!" She said in a sing-song voice, trying to be cheerful. "Come on, Father. Let's get down with all this. I have an appointment."

 

"With?"

 

"With Harry. He said he can accompany me to have a fresh air on the beach."

 

"Be sure to be careful," his father reminded her, all the while massaging her Golfer's elbow to make her vein visible. "Don't be in the water, especially that it is salty."

 

"I know. I know," said Sunny. She observed how the needle pierced into her delicate translucent-like skin. She was rarely out under the sun, and her skin was fair in the first place.

 

The thick dark blood was seeped up, filling the tube of the syringe. It was quick process, and soon her father was moving the blood sample into a special tin container and store it in laboratory refrigerator.

 

"Do I have to do anything else?" asked Sunny as she was pressing the piercing wound.

 

"Nope. Unless you want to help me out," said her father. "You have the talent, you know."

 

"Not interested, Father. If you do research on another subject, then perhaps I will," she answered.

 

"But this is an important research too. I'm also trying to find out if we can fight another terminal disease using this bacteria," her father reasoned.

 

"But it isn't your main purpose of research. You're not funded to do that. And although what had happened to me was an accident, a brave experiment, and a mistake," she added with timid voice. "But using it for the cause they want... I will never agree."

 

Her father sighed. He knew her stand from the beginning, but he still did it anyway. Especially because however, this research concerned about his daughter's condition and the fact that she was the main object of research.

 

Just in time, Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu's cellphone was ringing. He fished it out from his laboratory robe's pocket to look at the caller ID.

 

Looking at how her father's expression changed, Sunny knew immediately who the caller was. She gestured to excuse herself.

 

"I'll instruct Harry about the beach," her father quickly noted.

 

"No need, Father. He's no longer my bodyguard. He's a friend and he knows precisely what to do. Pick it up. I'll excuse myself now," said Sunny while walking to the elevator.

 

His father nodded as he picked up the phone call. It was when the glass elevator door about to close that Sunny heard her father's greeting to the hologram of a man in front of him, "Yes, Dr. Lim Tae Hyun."

 

***

 

Meanwhile, in military base in Fussa, Dr. Lim Tae Hyun was on the line. The cellphone was on the table, yet, a hologram sprung out of the screen.

 

"Good morning Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu. How are you?" he asked the bluish image of the man in front of him.

 

"Good. Always good. How are you?" Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu, Sunny's father asked.

 

"Not so good," Dr. Lim Tae Hyun, the man with thinning hair replied. "The last test subject failed again. It even developed more vicious behavior."

 

"Hmm... Could you send me the report?" asked Sunny's father.. "I can try to analyze it in my lab."

 

"That what I want to ask you actually, Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu. Is it possible for you to fly to our base in Fussa and conduct the experiment directly?"

 

The man whose holographic image he saw didn't reply. He stayed silent, his face seemed deep in thought.

 

"I know that this is a difficult proposal especially that you live with your only daughter. I know that you must feel worry and concern for her safety, but I can assure you that she will be safe. We will put our best soldiers to guard her," Dr. Lim Tae Hyun added persuasively. "Besides, sad too say, microbiology is not my specialty, and I haven't got the chance to study further."

 

Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu, Sunny's father didn't answer right away. However, he knew it was a huge thing if someone like Dr. Lim Tae Hyun admitted that he was lack in certain area. He knew that the person he talked to have a pride comparable to a mountain.

 

"Could you please give me time to discuss it with my daughter first?" asked Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu finally.

 

"I can't see why not. However, could you let me know immediately, so we can arrange your safety during the trip, also your daughter's safety. I'd like to hear your decision this Saturday the least?" proposed Dr. Lim Tae Hyun.

 

"Alright. I think I can give you the answer by tomorrow," the hologram of Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu answered.

 

"I'll be waiting for your call then," said Dr. Lim Tae Hyun, smiling, then the phone call ended.

 

The hologram blipped off, and Dr. Lim Tae Hyun moved from where the phone was placed.

 

"How's his response Doctor?" asked one of his assistant.

 

"He didn't object, yet he didn't agree yet. He said he needs time to discus it with his daughter," answered Dr. Lee Cheon Gyu. "Could you send the result from last failed experiment to Prof. Lee? He will help us analyse where it went wrong."

 

The latter did as told, and the two of them worked in silent for some moment, both with their own data analysis.

 

"Anyway, Doctor," the young assistant started, "about the bacteria we use to stimulate the brain of the dead, how do you think he figured that out. Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu, I mean."

 

"He claimed to get the idea from zombie fungus. Have you ever heard about it attacking ants?"

 

"I've heard about that when I was in university, but since I have little interest in the subject, l just let it pass," answered the assistant. "But it was fungus, and the one that Prof. Lee Cheon Gyu uses is bacteria."

 

''Well, he claimed that he found the specimen when he travel to rain-forest area, and it invades not ants but a genus of rats. The general idea is, when the host is infected, it loses its control over itself. The bacteria then take over the host brain and function for its own good, mainly for reproducing. But what I can't comprehend yet is how Prof. Lee found a way to keep the bacteria alive for a period that is considered long. Two months, while the living period for the bacteria in ants is only three days the most," explained Dr. Lim.

 

"Is it the same bacteria that are infecting the ants and the bacteria used in our experiments?" asked the assistant.

 

"I have it confirmed with Bioweapon Experiment Department. It is similar they said, but not exactly the, same. Seems like Prof. Lee injected something into the host along with the bacteria, but he hasn't disclose it to us yet."

 

''Oh, that makes sense. It is perhaps that makes the bacteria to behave like what we hope it will. I saw the experiment he conducted prior the agreement with Ministry of Defence. Surely the experiment's behavior was more controllable than all ours."

 

Dr. Lim Tae Hyun nodded before adding, "That, and also the Bioweapon Experiment Department has a doubt that it has something to do with the host's body defense or something that is added for that cause."

 

"If that was the case, then there should be a reason for him to figure that out."

 

"Agree. That is actually another reason that we put the some troops around the perimeter of the island where he resides. We offer them protection, all the while eyeing for any secret experiment he perhaps conducts in his lab."

 

"Which I believe he does. Our experiment is taking too long. I bet there is a way to conclude this experiment already since he has developed it for some time now," added the assistant, and Dr. Lim Tae Hyun was once again nodding his head. "If only we know should he has the perfected experiment. Then perhaps we can analyze it instead and end this project already."

 

"We're finding that out. We're finding that out," Dr. Lim chanted, as if assuring himself for the revelation.

 

***

 

The bunker door opened with a heavy creak, and in the old guy.

 

"I'm home," Lee Yong Min said to anybody who were in the house.

 

"Welcome home," his wife answered. She was as usual, standing in the kitchen, dividing their ratio for the night.

 

"Welcome home, Dad," greeted Sungmin, the young thin guy who was sitting on the only sofa in the bunker, and a very ragged one.

 

"I see you are better today, son," said the father matter-of-factly.

 

"I am. That's why I'm out of my room," he answered with a smile.

 

"Good. Good," his father took a seat on the dining chair, while his wife was serving him a very thin tea since their stock was getting down. She then joined his husband on the dining table.

 

"The soldiers came in an hour ago," said Mrs. Lee.

 

"What did they want?" Mr. Lee asked cynically. "Another retribution?"

 

"They gave us small ratio for food," his wife answered.

 

"Food ratio? What made them do that? Were their heads screwed?" Mr. Lee was being sinister.

 

"Your language, Dear," his wife reprimanded. "They gave us food ratio before, when the situation was much worse than now. Just take it as their sincerity and apology. After all, those soldiers were just chess pieces controlled by the higher-ups. You know it better."

 

Mr. Lee stayed silent. He knew how right his wife's words were and how silly his remark was.

 

"How is it on the ground, Dad?" asked Sungmin.

 

"No difference. The opposite side is still patrolling this area, also our side. But thankfully there is no air raid for some days already. You were out apparently, so you might perhaps didn't know if there's air raid or not," added the father quickly.

 

Sungmin only nodded his head. He just gained consciousness yesterday. For two weeks, he was completely out of this world, battling the burning fever. Him being able to go through the phase was such a miracle. It was undeniably one of his worst states, which his parents couldn't even prayed for him to survive to be honest.

 

"Where is Sungjin?" asked Mrs. Lee.

 

"He's still with the Sungs, helping them to get the boat work," answered the husband. "I've equipped the boat with a camouflage option and decoy button. I think we will really need it since the navy will have all eyes on and in the ocean. They are testing that out."

 

"Good. It will help him divert his thought from joining the army," said Mrs. Lee in agreement. She took a sip of her thin tea.

 

"Sungjin wants to join the army?" Sungmin turned his head towards his parents direction and asked.

 

His mother didn't  answer, she merely hummed.

 

"Why didn't you let him join?" asked Sungmin. "It is an honor to defend our country, right?"

 

His parents didn't say a word for a while, before his father finally said, "We already talked it through. He will never join the army. He has bigger responsibility to protect his family now that I'm not useful or helpful with this useless leg."

 

"But I can do that. It's my job anyway as the eldest son," Sungmin argued.

 

"Not with your condition, Dear," retorted his mother sternly.

 

"So in the end, it is me who weighs him down. Weighs this family down," he muttered with a distinct hatred in his voice. Hatred which was directed to himself.

 

His mother sighed heavily, "Could you stop thinking that way? We've gone through this so many times. Don't hold it against yourself. It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. We have other reason why we won't ever allow him to join the war."

 

"If you want to keep it that way, boy, you'd be better unconscious."

 

"Yeobo!" Mrs. Lee scolded him right away. "Let's just end this discussion here. I'm going to prepare our dinner, so, you'd be better take a bath now, Yeobo. And Sungmin, if you're strong enough to come in to the kitchen, help me cleaning those mushrooms."

 

The old guy needed not to be told twice. He got off his chair and went to the bathroom on the far end of their small confined bunker. Parenting was indeed the hardest subject he ever took. What he thought was the best for his sons, they thought it otherwise. Especially now that his sons grew up.

 

Meanwhile Sungmin, who wanted to prove that he was getting better, also getting off the couch and walked feebly to the kitchen. His mother moved a half bowl of button mushrooms, a bowl of clean water and mushroom brush for him.

 

The mother and son were working in silent, when the youngest son broke into the trap door, yelling.

 

"Dad! It works! Both the decoy and camouflage button works! You're genius!"

 

"Really?!" Mr. Lee came out bare-chested of the bathroom abruptly with water dripped from his wet hair and towel around his waist. He was all beaming.

 

"It really works, Dad!" yelled Sungjin ecstatically. "Mr. Sung told me that we can leave mainland in about three days. We need to get our supply and all ready for the trip."

 

"We'll get it ready. We'll get it ready," said Mr. Lee with the same level of excitement as his youngest son. "You hear that alright, Wife? Get it ready soon."

 

Mrs. Lee who stood all smiling next to a humble kitchen counter, nodded eagerly at her husband's request. Sungmin on the other hand, observing the joy and excitement around him, but he wasn't thoroughly accepted their intention. That was why he couldn't celebrate the cause of joy together with them since he knew, his family had to go difficult times, even challenging the norm and regulation just for him. If only he was healthier. If only he was a healthy eldest son for his family, that was what he thought all the time when he got his consciousness.

 

======================================================

 

Hello guys, sorry for again, updating so late.
I have no other words but to apologize >.<

Thanks for being so patient and for keeping up with me and this story.
I can't promise for speed update, but I will surely do :)

So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Happy reading and don't forget to leave your comments so I know which part should I improve.

 

Cheers,
thesilverstrands